With the expanding application of polyurethane, polyamide, polyimide, and epoxy resin in recent years, there exists a demand for improvements in various polymer properties including weather resistance, water resistance, heat resistance, resistance to chemicals, electrical characteristics, and mechanical characteristics. In order to improve those polymer properties, several compounds, which are rather complicated in molecular structure, have been proposed for use as the diamine component of polymers. Among them are isophoronediamine, 4,4'-diamino-3,3'-diethyldiphenylmethane, diaminodiphenyl ether, 1,4-diaminobutane, and tolylenediamine, and so forth.
However, because of their complicated molecular structures, those diamines cannot be easily synthesized with high efficiency and at low cost on a commercial scale. Moreover, because the toxic prussic acid is generally used as an auxiliary starting material, their production on a commercial scale involves difficulties.
Meanwhile, as the curing agent for epoxy resin, there are known aliphatic polyamines such as diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetramine, diethylaminopropylamine, etc.; alicyclic polyamines such as isophoronediamine,etc.; and aromatic polyamines such as xylenediamine, diaminodiphenylsulfone,etc.; and so forth.
However, with those polyamines, all the above-mentioned polymer properties can hardly be implemented in a well-assorted balance.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a polyamine useful as the diamine component of polymers and a process for producing the polyamine.
It is another object to provide a technology for providing the polyamine efficiently and a low cost.